Dr. Merville Hamilton Carter (1857-1939), his brother Allan L. Carter (1871-1944), and their cousin Henry Stier Dulaney (1849-1928), started the Resinol Chemical Company in 1895. It was first listed in the Polk Baltimore City directories at 801 Bloomingdale Rd. (1896), then at 316 W. Lombard St. (1897-1902). Since 1903 the company has been located at 517 W. Lombard St., Baltimore. The company manufactured skin-care products developed by Dr. Carter in his private practice. Resinol ointment or unguentum was (and is) a general-purpose preparation used in treating psoriasis, eczema, poison ivy, mild burns, etc. Other products were Resinol soap, Resinol shaving sticks, and Elixir Cascanata, a laxative and tonic. Company advertising was vigorous, with ads in many newspapers and journals, large mailings of circulars and pamphlets, and (apparently) baby beauty contests in the early years. The company achieved world-wide distribution. Its British outlet was John H. Buffham &amp; Co., with whom Resinol dealt from 1899 to 1943 and perhaps longer. After the deaths of the original principals, the firm was continued by H. LeRoy Carter (son of Merville H. Carter) and later by Henry LeRoy Carter, Jr. At some point (1940s??) the company began to decline. After 1956 Resinol was listed in the Baltimore directories as a soap manufacturer, but it continued to distribute ointment.

The Royal Drug Company, also called the Royal Drug Company, Inc. or the Royal Drug Company of Baltimore City, may have been started in 1895/6 by George R. Debnam. It was incorporated in 1901. Then or soon after it apparently was taken over by Resinol (Carter) interests; by 1904 it was located on the Resinol premises at 517 W. Lombard St. Debnam was out of the operation by 1906. In 1900 the company dealt in &ldquo;Royal Headache Tablets.&rdquo; By 1939 its sole function was to package tablets made by others. The corporation officers at that time were Allan L. Carter, his wife Caroline C. Carter, and Arthur S. Dulaney (son of Henry Stier Dulaney). The enterprise yielded little income: by 1945 it was starting to show a loss, and probably was dissolved after 1950.

Note: As of 1975, the company continued to distribute ointment. According to a University of Baltimore student doing a market study on the company, the market for Resinol products became completely static some time ago, and the company made little effort to expand it. The people who buy Resinol products today are the same who bought it fifty years ago -- and they're dying out. [Douglas S. Harrington, personal communication to E.M. Daniels, 5/26/76. Please do not quote this.]